You’re never too young to make a difference

At the ripe old age of 13, Benjamin Nicholson already has years of helping hens under his belt. Not only have he and his family, mum Joanne, dad Tim and younger brother Sam, adopted hens from us, but Benjamin has also done a lot of work in raising awareness for commercial hens too.

It all started when nine-year-old Benjamin decided he wanted to write to the cake and biscuit manufacturers McVities to ask them to stop using caged eggs and start using free range.

Joanne says, “Learning about where our food comes from and how animals are treated is important to us as a family. We used to homeschool, and we would talk about lots of different issues and because we had rescue chickens, we were talking about the difference between free range eggs and other types of eggs.

“I helped Benjamin do some research into this and he was horrified to learn that if it doesn’t say free range on a packet, then it means they use a different type of egg and the alternative to free range is clearly not good.

“That’s not a state he wants to see chickens living in and we talked about why our ex-colony hens had so few feathers. He said he wanted to send McVities a letter because he felt passionately about chickens.”

Taking action and spreading awareness

The handwritten letter, complete with drawings of the adopted hens, garnered a response from McVities’ Managing Director Jon Eggleton, who said that he understood his position, saying that McVities uses eggs from farms that conform to EU standards and would keep the sourcing of their ingredients under review but stopped short of committing to only using free range eggs.

“It started when we rescued our first hens from the BHWT and I was really shocked to see the state they were in,” says Benjamin.

“I did some research and I thought it was a problem that needed to be dealt with, so I decided to do something about it.”

Benjamin’s letter caught the attention of the media, and his story was covered in their local Oxford newspaper, regional BBC news and even a German children’s magazine, helping to highlight the experience of commercial hens and the importance of consumer choice. It also won Benjamin a coveted Blue Peter green badge.

“When my friends ask why I like chickens so much, I realised that people don’t understand that they have personalities, they’re real characters and each one is an individual.

Benjamin didn’t stop at writing a letter, he has also been exercising his own purchase power by boycotting McVities products ever since, as well as products made by the company that owns McVities, and raising awareness among his friends.

Benjamin says, “I feel that if there is an issue that’s really important to you, you should act on it.

“A lot of people might feel the same as you about something, but you don’t realise how many do until you speak up, so raising awareness is really important.

“When my friends ask why I like chickens, I realised that they don’t understand that they have personalities, they’re real characters and each one is an individual.

“My friends have been very supportive and don’t offer me McVities products anymore. A couple of my friends have got chickens now as well.”

It’s a family affair

Benjamin helped out the BHWT team when his family visited Countryfile Live by helping younger children sit with hens on their knees. And, of course, they’ve shown their support by adopting ex-caged chickens.

Joanne says, “They’re our pets and they want to be with us, which is nice, so we’ve grown attached to them.

“When I talk to people about why we rescue them I say that it’s not just about the cages, it’s also about the fact they're not very old when they're sent to slaughter, and lots of people don’t realise that. I think it is really important to raise awareness about what really happens and where food comes from.”

Benjamin adds, “Lots of our younger neighbours are obsessed with coming to see the chickens. I’ve become a kind of chicken guide and tell them all about the birds. I’ve learned a lot about looking after them, checking for viruses and I diagnosed them when they had Marek’s disease.

“One of the youngest children said that they’d never seen living animals before, so it’s nice for them to come and see ours and I think they enjoy seeing them pecking around. They also enjoy the eggs!”

"My dream would be to buy some land and have an orchard and keep lots of chickens. I’m going to keep chickens for as long as I can."

Benjamin says “Seeing the rescue hens get better, their health improve and who they really are is fun. They’re quite mischievous! They like to come inside and eat out of the cat’s bowl even if he’s eating. Having the eggs is also a benefit, but I’d still have them as pets even if they didn’t lay eggs.

“My favourite is Kin because he’s really sweet, he likes to have a massage, so I sit down with him and he goes to sleep in my lap.”

The future is…full of chickens!

Looking ahead Benjamin says he plans to live in accordance with his environmental and ethical beliefs and have lots of chickens.

He says, “The dream for me would be to buy some land, have an orchard and keep lots of chickens. I’m going to keep chickens for as long as I can.